Snipers and Claymores

[conger]

Hi all,

 

These questions refer to snipers using claymore mines specifically.

 

I've got a couple of Claymores which I'm thinking about using when I play a sniper role to cover retreat routes and so on but wondered what you folks thought about snipers using them.

 

Q1. Useful or not?

Q2. What are the best tactics to employ?

 

Thanks in advance all.

 

Good Hunting

 

 

Mods [Please feel free to move this to a better location is necessary.

[Trasher]

One question... When and how do you recover the mines?

 

That's why I never bought them.

[TDS]

Mines are very easy to recover

 

The madbull ones have an eyelet that you can run fishing line to, I tied all my mines together (6) with ~3ft of fishing line, then a long line on the last one.

 

To deploy, I dump the pouch with all 6, throw out the farthest one, tie off the long line to a tree or something else I can find easily, then go along and fill each mine with gas and arrange/flip over them how I like, it takes about 1 minute all said and done as long as I have leaves to throw over them.

 

Claymores are more tricky because they have a tendency to tip over instead of trigger, but noone ignores a hit from a claymore, sometimes a mine isn't heard (unless you fill them with c02, then a careful person could step on one and not put enough weight on it to set it off.

 

Ideally you want to setup a claymore, then cut off the quickest path of retreat/cover with mines, wait within range with someone not in the front lined up, and fire just before the claymore goes off, if its well planned and you setup at a good choke you can get 4-6 people in the first three seconds, most intelligent teams will route and go another way almost immediately.

 

Remember traps, barbed wire, and mines are nice, but they are all useless without a gun overlooking them.

[TheBauer]

Pretty much as TDS said in his last line

 

Remember traps, barbed wire, and mines are nice, but they are all useless without a gun overlooking them.

 

I have a claymore (my 3rd one now) i use it in my woodland gaming mainly defending an objective, then once the other team are apon the objective i use the remote to detonate the claymore, its gained me a few double kills in the past.

 

i dont how ever use it to defend my rear routes, as

 

1) i play in a massive woodland there are no 'routes' its all open terrority and you can come from all angles

2) i move around to much to keep going back collecting the claymore then setting it up again

 

defending objectives i find is the best use for mine, as whilst defending ill only move after ive eliminated a few players or i think ive been spotted, but then if the clay more is set up ill move to another position which is still in range of using the detonation.

[Trasher]

Remember traps, barbed wire, and mines are nice, but they are all useless without a gun overlooking them.

The very reason why I don't use them... On the defensive (woodland), I've plenty of guys and eyes covering my back, OR I'm behind the enemy lines helping the defenders with intel and quick hit-n-run ambushes (minimize risk of getting spotted, no time to recover claymores, lightest load possible for maximum stealth, etc).

 

On the offensive, I'm too mobile to care about setting mines/claymores.

[conger]

As part of an defending team, they are very useful to defend your 'back door' and I wondered if in principle I'd use them when I play a sniper role [which I play 90% of the time].

 

I don't see recovery as a problem really. Carrying one will add to my loadout however which is a negative!

 

I'll be playing with the idea on the weekend and will learn first hand if Snipers and Claymores are compatible generally. [there'll always be that exceptional situation where they are!]

 

Good Hunting

[thewallhitme]

ive always thought of using mines a completely different way. personally i would use a claymore to block off an alternative route and force enemy to come my way. although i dont have a claymore and dont really know how effective they are, thats how i think id end up using it. then id go and collect it at the end of the game

[The Bushman]

I don't have mines or claymores, but have used trip wires several times over the years. I used simple sprung cap traps from the joke shop on fishing line.

 

I used them to either trap an objective (as BAUER said) or simply to block off certain paths that would be most likely used by opponents. I looked at them as maximising my chances of scoring points in 24 hour gaming. If I went on a long patrol and saw no one, at least I had setup some traps, so it may not all be time wasted.

 

My traps were tiny and you could fit 20 in your pocket. They cost about £1 each so if you failed to recover it, then it wasn't so bad (you could get it next time).

 

You need a partner to cover you while you rigg them or else you can easily get bumped (you are at your most vulnerable).

 

You MUST tell all your team not to use that route. This can be most effectively done before the game starts, by telling them clearly, your plan to booby trap certain areas/routes.

 

Traps are another string in a sniper's bow.

 

Good Hunting

[sneaky-fab]

Mm... i was looking for some cheap traps, I have got some fish line but anybody got an idea what to put on it ? so the OPFOR could know that there were "trapped" ?

 

Fab

[liamo333]

Has anyone tried putting up really obious trip wire to deter people from a area?

 

Any use? I have a good few mines made out of alarms, trip them and you are conciderd dead:D

[Catman]

I used traps a bit - not in a sniper role though.

 

They can be hard to get a kill with but they do work nicely. I have the gamma claymore which is pretty good, I got two metal poles for it that fit over the legs nicely, allows me to plant the mine without worrying about ground clearance - if the door doesn't open fully the trap won't fire. Only problem with the claymore is that it's too quiet, there needs to be a loud bang when it goes off. Because of this I tend to place this in positions where I can watch it and remote detonate it.

 

I use a 9mm blank trap as well. This has been a great trap, it's loud enough and works a treat. I need to get some more of those.

 

I use a thin nearly invisible fishing line (6lb line iirc) on my traps. The line tends to break but will set the traps off. I also have a thicker line which is much more visible, I tend to deploy this as a decoy line before or after the actual trap and trip. Works quite well too. And to mix it up a little I'll sometimes wire the "decoy" line to the trap so as to keep people guessing. All my trip lines are on small poles about 20cm in length with 5-10m of line on each one.

 

Oh and you can tell you team as much as you like that a path or area is mined... but there's always one

[Trasher]

Small traps and simple tripwires (stuff you can leave behind) are a different thing.

 

Airsoft claymore mines are not expendable, they must be recovered. They hinder the sniper's mobility, just like an anchor. It's a clear indication to opfor that you operate in that area, and will come back for the kit sooner or later...

[thewallhitme]

you could always come back for it after the game has finished

[sneaky-fab]

somebody got a photo of an home made trap ?

[Azubi]

For those planning on using home made boobytraps, make sure you get them cleared by the site marshals. I know it's common sense and I don't wish to insult you all but there is always one...

[farrasdevell]

If i feel the need to set up traps i use thin fishing line attached to the pull cord one of these taped to a stick/tree. Works well in larp is not too loud but loud enough for ppl to know thay have tripped one.

Party poppers

they are small, cheap, fairly reliable can be sprayed to be less noticeable if you realy must

[lewis hiscock]

i think that some people have the impression that using a claymore would be like

call of duty 4 or similar games (i.e you set it up behind you and BOOM to anyone skeaking up on you)

whereas in reality theres more to setting one up than just throwing it at the floor

and they would really be a hinderance in that role as you'd have to set it up and remove

it every time you move.

[TheBauer]

not only that but the trip wire detetation for them is pretty shoddy, the Supercell ones were *beep* for trip wire as the leaver had to be pulled backwards, so you had to pully the wire around a tree and hope when it was triped the wire didnt snag so the claymore went off.

 

the chinese 'clones' have got it right in that the lever pulls forward, but you still need to angle it so that the trip can be pulls but the claymore actually goes off in the direction of the target.

 

the only sure way of actually detonating it is buy using the remote or the hardwire that comes with the supercell ones. the wireless on the supercell was *beep*, and had about 10m range.

the chinese ones how ever i can be 40m away line of sight and it will go off.

[TDS]

Generally an empty pop can or paper cup on the string-popper is more than enough to amplify the sound so your target knows he's dead.

 

and they cost a few cents each, and are biodegradable, everyone wins.

 

The larger claymores are more for the people that want to go through the whole rigamaroll of setting up a complex defence for a bunker or somesuch.

[lewis hiscock]

to be honest for defending your 'back door' your better off with something that alerts you to an enemy rather than kills them.

even a tripline attached to something that makes a noise strung accross a doorway or whatever will give you an early warning against someone sneaking in. then you can just set up to pop them

[conger]

[sorry, this is a little long ]

 

Well, I used my ACM M18A1 claymore last weekend for the first time playing my usual sniper role.

 

Thanks to all for your comments and thoughts. Here's what I found out last weekend.

 

+ Range is good [14m registered hits confirmed]

+ Remotely activated and with no direct LOS to the device [i was ~25 meters away]

+ Looks good, realistic [not that I've ever handled a real one ]

+ Adds a dynamic to our game which did not exist before

+ Can be loaded and primed before the game for quick deployment [if remote detonation is intended]

 

- No sound when it goes off - Yea, this is a biggie.

- Recovery at the end of the game can mean a bit of a walk

- Adds weight to my loadout

 

Bushman ..... you are spot on. If I'd set it up using trips, it'd been blue on blue for sure!!

 

# Takes some time to set up if trip wire detonation is intended

# I needed to hand sew a bag to use to carry it so that it does not interfere with my movement I added a pocket to my bespoke ghuillie bag which I use anyway.

 

I got two simultaneous kills [first time lucky ] both inside 14 meters. It closed off a route and actually forced two more members of that Opfor who were behind to change direction. I could direct fired onto them also. [impressed]

 

The sound [or lack of it is a pity]. But I've a thought of using a popper to give a sound signal also.

 

Overall, it's airsoft, it's fun and it did work for me first time. It made a good impression.

I enjoy a more mil sim game, so I treat the claymore as a 'one use' device.

 

Good Hunting

[TheBauer]

using a popper wouldnt be hard, you would need to put a screw hoop or something in the pannel that pops forward, then use tape to put the popper on the main body, then tie the string on the screw. then when it pops open the string is pulled forward allowing the popper to 'pop'

 

if your looking for a pouch, they fit perfectly in a viper medium utility pouch, and i assume the webtex medium utility pouch as they both look the same.

[thewallhitme]

you could always use claymores as a visual deterrant i suppose. maybe leave on in the middle of a path at a bottle neck. when the enemy see it they would have to bypass it, or if they were brave/stupid enough to try and get past it you could "detonate" it.

 

overall though i see their use as limited in most games, so unless someone who had one wrote an indepth review and managed to convince me, i wont be purchasing one anytime soon.

[rifleman]

On the odd occassion where I've used claymores when sniping in defence I've always deployed them forwards of my position to act as a deterent should the opfor get a little too close for comfort. If they're going to walk on by without seeing me then I won't detonate but if I'm spotted and need to bug out it's a great discouragement to anyone trying to follow you. It's also a good idea to clearly label the claymore so that no-one pockets it.

[conger]

Great minds think alike Bauer .... and thanks for the suggestion of the Viper medium utility pouch.

It does not fit comfortable in my SAAV but I've sewed a besoke pouch up myself which seems to work for now.

 

Good idea on the identity marking also Rifleman. And I agree, if concealment is secure and not under threat, I let the 'enemy' just walk on by as my objective is more important sometime that the killscore.

 

My biggest issue to date has been controlling the area directly behind me when prone in a position. Some of the landscape in my playing area makes from managing more than one front difficult when alone and this is where the idea of using a mine came from. When a patrol is approching from the rear, my thinking is that a claymore, well placed may be of help sometimes.

 

It's certaintly no replacement in any way for my rifle or my sidearm thought. It'd be the first to go.

 

It's early days. The first outing was positive though. As I get more experience, I'll come back and update this thread. My I can even convince you thewallhitme.

 

 

Good hunting